The other day I was taking a walk to a part of New Jersey that I hadn't been to in a while. There was an estate sale that I wanted to go to and though it was a long walk to get there, the day was beautiful and the place where the sale was is an area that I used to walk to more often and where I always enjoy exploring. Because so much has changed in the past two years and now life is slowly opening up once again, I decided to take the walk and enjoy the day and the freedom that walking and exploring has always had for me.
On my way there, I walked on a street where I hadn't walked recently, and I saw a donut shop that I'd never seen before. I love donuts. And I may have written about this before, but if so I'll write about it again, and share that my mother's father and her mother's family were all bakers for generations. Somewhere in California when I was very young, I had a great aunt or maybe even a great-great Aunt named Lillian who sent me a gift through my grandmother, and when my mother saw the name she said that Aunt Lillian was known for making the best donuts ever. I've always remembered that and wondered if I could somehow make wonderful donuts like Aunt Lillian. I've made fried dough and beignets that were very good, but never tried to make donuts. But I do love them, and whenever I see a donut shop that is not a chain mass market kind of store, I always look in and see what they have and try something in hopes it will be something special.
The sale I was going to was ending early that day, and so I made a note of where the store was and the name of the street, and thought I'd try to get there soon. As it turned out I was able to stop by on my way back that same day, and because I hadn't bought anything too heavy or big at the sale, I was able to carry something home from the donut shop. It was a good thing that I had room for carrying things because when I walked in the door I knew immediately that I'd found something really special. The people who worked there were so nice and friendly and fun, and the whole environment of the place was just lovely. It is called The LoDG which stands for the Law Of Donutgineering, and they certainly have it down to the science of how to make donuts and donut creations that are so wonderful I wanted everything on the menu. I felt like I'd found a very special and very happy place to visit, and one that I was so glad to know was within an area where I could visit regularly.
The LoDG doesn't make ordinary donuts, and everything on their menu is extraordinary. These creations are worlds above what we would normally think of as donuts, and in addition they make sandwiches using donuts too. I chose the "You're A Sweet Jerk" with Jerk Chicken and sweet plantains that would have been wonderful all on their own. Made between two halves of a glazed donut with the addition of mild quest and garlic aioli, this sandwich was one of the best I've ever had. There's also a fried chicken sandwich I want to try, but because I knew if I ordered everything I'd eat everything all at once which might not be too good a thing, so I decided to try some of their smaller donut holes with fried chicken inside which were wonderful. I ordered a few of the other sweet varieties, and I know I'll be going back for seconds and to try everything else I didn't try already.
The owners of The LoDG are very nice people too, and they took some time to speak with me that day about how they had opened right before everything was shutting down in early 2020, and how they tried in whatever way they could to help people in need in the community by sharing food when they could. Places like The LoDG are what make neighborhoods great, and I'm so happy to have found this one. I'm looking forward to more donuts and donut sandwiches and to finding out what more this wonderful place has in store.
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